Stevens v. Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office CA2/6

Filed 12/22/14 Stevens v. Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office CA2/6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.111.5.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION SIX

LINDA STEVENS, 2d Civil No. B255986 (Super. Ct. No. 1439372) Plaintiff and Appellant, (Santa Barbara County)

v.

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE et al.,

Defendants and Respondents.

Linda Stevens appeals from a judgment on demurrer to her taxpayer's suit against respondents, Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office (SBCO), Sheriff Bill Brown, Santa Barbara County Clerk Recorder's Office, County Clerk/Recorder Joseph E. Holland, and county clerk/recorder employees Melinda Greene and Mary Rose Bryson. Appellant claims that she was wrongfully evicted after her home was sold at a trustee's sale. The 1 complaint is brought under the guise of a taxpayer suit statute (Code Civ. Proc., § 526a) and collaterally attacks the trustee's sale and unlawful detainer judgment. The trial court

1 All statutory references are to the Code of Civil Procedure unless otherwise stated. Section 526a provides in pertinent part: "An action to obtain a judgment, restraining and preventing any illegal expenditure of, waste of, or injury to, the estate, funds, or other property of a county . . . may be maintained against any officer thereof, or any agent, or other person, acting in its behalf, either by a citizen resident therein, or by a corporation, who is assessed for and is liable to pay, or within one year before the commencement of the action, has paid, a tax therein."

sustained, without leave to amend, respondents' demurrer to the action and an identical complaint filed by co-owner Richard A. Stevens in Richard A. Stevens v. Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office et al., Santa Barbara County, Sup. Ct., No. 1439438. We affirm. (Garfinkle v. Superior Court (1978) 21 Cal.3d 268, 280-282 (Garfinkle).) This appeal, and a similar spate of appeals in what is known as the Santa Barbara foreclosure cases, is frivolous. (See Lyons v. Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office (Dec. 3, 2014, B256041) ___ Cal.App.4th ___ [2014 DJDAR 15971].) On March 15, 2011, appellant's home at 8849 Vereda Del Padre, Goleta was sold at a trustee's sale after appellant defaulted on a $729,750 deed of trust. Following the sale, a writ of possession issued in an unlawful detainer action to evict appellant. Appellant filed a taxpayer's action alleging that fraudulent mortgage documents were recorded to foreclose on the property. The complaint states the mortgage documents were submitted in the unlawful detainer proceeding "to procure a claim of 'perfected' title by a lender, its purported successor or another foreclosing entity which has unlawfully evicted [appellant]." The trial court sustained the demurrer on the ground that no cause of action was stated: "[T]he parties that you're suing, the Sheriff and the County Recorder have mandated statutory duties. The County Recorder can't look through a document and say, 'Oh, this is a fraudulent document, I'm not going to file it.' They're statutorily mandated, statutorily required to accept the documents. So because of that, that's not a basis for a lawsuit against the County Recorder. And similarly, the Sheriff, when the Sheriff serves the writ of execution is doing so by order of the Court and so the Sheriff is mandated to go out and serve the writ of execution, otherwise the Sheriff is in contempt of court." Taxpayer Action On review, we exercise our independent judgment to determine whether a cause of action has been stated under any legal theory. (Shuster v. BAC Home Loans Servicing, LP (2012) 211 Cal.App.4th 505, 509.) We accept as true properly pleaded allegations of material fact, but not contentions, deductions or conclusions of fact or law. (Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 Cal.3d 311, 318.) Section 526a permits a taxpayer action to